Meet the entrepreneurs who will pitch on June 12th

Our A’dam program is quickly reaching its final event – the Pitch Finale. It will be a special occasion to witness entrepreneurship in action and celebrate the RF community. We are very happy to invite you to join us on the 12th of June at the Amsterdam Centre for Entrepreneurship (Science Park), from 5 P.M. onward. If you are attending, please RSVP through this form. See you there!

Meet the entrepreneurs who will pitch on June 12th!

AHMAD | Achie’s Koffie

After 2 years as a barista at the Rijksmuseum – or in other words, 300,000 cups of coffee prepared – Ahmad is ready to move forward as a business owner. Achie’s Koffie will be a unique coffee bar in Amsterdam, where friends come to catch up over a warm cup of Ethiopian coffee and freelancers spend productive afternoons in one of the many couches. As a first step towards this dream, Ahmad will be spending the next few months running Moyee’s Coffee first pop up coffee bar in Amsterdam, at the Student Hotel on Wibautstraat. Stop by any day of the week for Amsterdam’s best cappuccino served by Achie!

BLAISE | Nzuri Market

Blaise has an ambitious vision: be the number one consumer electronics market place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, his home country. His business, Nzuri market, is launching now by first focussing only on refurbished phones. Blaise recruited a sales team in Congo and created a big online ads campaign. Soon the first phones will be shipped to Africa. Blaise will set himself apart by offering high-quality refurbished phones from Europe for a competitive price. Get updates on Nzuri Market on its Instagram account.

Hisham is a true inventor. After much deliberation, he decided that during the course of the RF incubator program he would work on developing XenoLap – a tech solution that combines all of your devices into one. Sounds ambitious, doesn’t it? In fact Hisham has developed the hardware himself, and is now working on production contracts with Chinese manufacturers. His innovative product landed him an invite to The Next Web’s Ignite Conference, one of the biggest Tech conferences in the world. At the moment, Hisham is looking for a co-founder that has experience in the hardware industry. Curious to see XenoLap in action? You’ll have the chance to do so during our Pitch Finale!

As a lawyer from Syria, Khaldoun has always been dedicated to justice. After arriving to the Netherlands, together with his close circle Khaldoun started to activate his own community in the camps and engaging Dutch locals in order to build relationships. His foundation – More Than Refugees – has now given over 30 workshops for 450 people, and has provided 3000 hours of coaching to young newcomers. MTR’s first 2 customers were the municipalities of Den Bosch and Heusden, and they are now developing a customer base in the south. For his impressive work so far, MTR has received funding from Oranje Funds.

Originally from Russia, Matvey has taken the Netherlands by storm with his film-making skills. After only a few months in the country, he has already built a strong client base and worked on my different projects as Madway Films. His 1st customers were key organisations in the LGBTQ community, and Matvey is now developing his offer for the wedding video sector. He is also working on an ambitious promotion video for Refugees Forward – you might get a sneak peak at the Pitch Finale! See more of his work on his Facebook page.

MOHAMMED | Green Wheel

Earlier this year, Mohammed received a worrying phone call from his uncle, who is a farmer in Sudan. He told Mohammed about how his crops were dying, due to a national fuel crisis, which made diesel-powered water pumps obsolete. Having an academic background as a mechanical and automotive engineer, and motivated by the size of the opportunity, Mohammed set out to develop a solution. Green Wheel is a sustainable irrigation system based on solar-powered water pumps. Backed up by 2 letters of intent from clients, Green Wheel will run the 1st pilot with a group of Sudanese farmers in the 1st quarter of 2020!

During this program we’ve had the honor of having royalty in the room every week – the Falafel King, that is! Moutaz is the man behind XO Keuken, a Syrian catering service. Naturally gifted as a cook, during the program Moutaz has developed a complete marketing strategy, which has led to a considerable increase in sales. In fact, last month he has managed to achieve financial independence, and no longer relies on the social support system! You can follow XO Keuken on Facebook and Instagram. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you are looking for soulful Syrian catering!

MURAT | Gateway

With a team of 3 other successful businessmen, Murat aims to become the best solution in the market for Middle Eastern companies that export goods to Europe. He does that through Gateway, a company that enables its clients to (1) open a branch in the Netherlands, (2) sort out their administrative issues and (3) optimise their logistics operations. Gateway is in negotiations with 2 potential customers, and is now in the process of strengthening the network of service providers in the Netherlands, namely warehouse solutions.

When he moved to the Netherlands, the clash between the Syrian and the Dutch cuisines motivated Rami to start Rami’s Catering – European-Middle Eastern fusion food catered in the Nijmegen and Arnhem regions. Besides private events, you can also catch Rami’s signature buffet in 2 popup locations – on the 1st Friday of the month at Huis van Puck, and at Thiemeloods 2 Fridays a month. In addition to his buffet, he has expanded his product line to include company lunches and hapjes. He is now developing his marketing strategy further, in order to increase his customer base. You can reach out to him on FB and Instagram.

During the last 3 months, Rasha has been preparing to open the first European branch of Turkish travel agency Farah. Her mission is to create a bridge between the European and Arabic culture, providing travelers from the Gulf region with a comfortable, inspirations and stress free trip. In the last stretch of the program Rasha’s team is working on product design, getting to the final travel packages. You can keep up with updates from her through Fara’s website and Instagram page!

There are challenges to being a plastic artist in a business incubator program – whereas creating striking paintings might come easy, writing a business plan or developing a marketing strategy are not effortless tasks. Nevertheless, with the support of his tireless team, Saed has put together his popup art gallery – Art&More – where he has held exhibitions and abstract art workshops since the beginning of April. There is no question that Saed is a talented artist. He even has one of his paintings hanging in Princess Laurentien’s foundation! You can check where his art will be up next on his website.

SLAVA | Recruitment Platform

Originally from Kazakhstan, Slava’s professional background is in project management and sales. When he arrived in the Netherlands, he identified a market opportunity: the labor market is becoming more and more flexible, with workers and employers seeking contracts with less constraints. He then identified the maritime industry as a strong field to start with, due to its international character. His solution is a platform that connects the supply and demand of maritime crew members in the Netherlands.

ZEIN | ZAAN Trading

Zein is a man of many trades – throughout the years he has been in the hospitality industry, a foreign currencies broker, and has sold second-hand luxury cars for a living, to name just a few. Now, motivated by the mass destruction of infrastructure in his own country, he has started a company that sells second-hand construction machines to Syria. By being based in Europe, he can access high quality second hand machines in E.U. countries, which gives him a competitive advantage over local competitors. His strong network in the Syrian construction sector has led him to his first potential clients, who he is in negotiations with at the moment.

Refugees Forward is a proud to be part of a community of people using business as a force for good!